1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a transport cart/patient table system for exchanging slab of the patient table that can be transferred by a lifting arrangement between this the patient and the transport cart, the transport cart being movable beneath the patient table for the transferring the exchangeable slab.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Systems of this sort are used, for example, in medical therapy and diagnosis apparatuses, such as a magnetic resonance apparatus. By means of this system, it is possible to exchange an exchangeable slab, on which the patient is to be received or from which the patient is to be removed, from the patient table to the transport cart, and vice versa. For this purpose, the transport cart is moved under the patient table, the actual exchanging then taking place by operating the lifting arrangement of the patient table, which correspondingly raises or lowers the exchangeable slab. In known systems of this sort, the transport cart can be moved underneath the patient table only from one side of the table, and for this purpose the transport cart already must be oriented precisely relative to the patient table before being moved beneath it, since the transport cart is guided at the corresponding sides by suitable guide means on the patient table. The necessity of moving the transport cart to the table from one side only is inconvenient in several respects. Approach from this one side is compulsory, that is, no alternative approach possibilities exist. Also, this one-side parallel approach is possible only given corresponding space, that is, the entire system can be used only in correspondingly large rooms. If these conditions are not present in a particular room, it is not possible with the known system to move the patient directly into that treatment room by means of the transport cart.
A transport cart/patient table system of the type described above, which enables an approach of the transport cart only transversely to the longitudinal direction of the patient table, is known, for example, from German OS 30 34 932.
In German OS 39 24 390, a transport cart for operating table slabs is described which is guided under an operating table by means of guide elements in the longitudinal direction. Rollers that can be moved in the axial direction enable a certain transverse motion of the transport cart relative to the direction of propulsion.
Further transport carts for operation table slabs are known from German utility models 296 10 726 and 88 15 279. Guide means for these known carts are fashioned in such a way that the transport cart can be moved underneath an operating table from two opposed sides.
European Application 0 625 348 discloses two different systems for transport carts, namely one for transverse advance and one for longitudinal advance of the operating table slab. The correct position of the operating table slab is acquired by means of infrared sensors.